Later text
Psalm 78:58BSB
They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
Intertextuality Pair
Psalm 78:58 → Exodus 20:4
Allusion
Earlier text
Exodus 20:4BSB
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
Significance
Exodus 20:4 forbids making graven images (פֶּסֶל, pesel), and Psalm 78:58 records Israel's covenant violation: they "provoked His jealousy with their idols" (פְּסִילֵיהֶם, pesileihem). The shared vocabulary of פ-ס-ל (p-s-l) directly connects the second commandment's prohibition to its historical violation. The psalm further notes that Israel "enraged Him with their high places" (הִכְעִיסוּהוּ, hikh'isuhu) and that these idols provoked His jealousy (קִנְאָה, qin'ah)—the very attribute Exodus 20:5 ascribes to God as the reason for the prohibition. Israel's history thus validated exactly what the second commandment warned: a jealous God who will not share worship with carved images.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Longitudinal Theme — the shared פ-ס-ל vocabulary binds the second commandment's prohibition (Ex 20:4) to Psalm 78:58's narration of its violation, one thread in the canon-long theme of idolatry provoking divine jealousy that stretches from Sinai through Shiloh's fall to the exile — and is resolved only in the Son, the true Image no carved thing could anticipate.
Related Anchor-Text Networks
Linked Mentions 2